The City of Bas-Relieves

The Turkish invaders ruthlessly persecuted Christians. Since the 11th century Cilicia had been the centre of Armenian politics.Cilician Kingdom was established in 1080, in this very historic region, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The residence of the Armenian Catholicos was also relocated here.The population of the country began building utterly new types of settlements. There were cave dwellings carved out in rocks. The most famous one was Ani, which counted more than a thousand of hand-made grottos and tens of spacious underground vaults.
The Medieval settlement of Minor Anapat is situated 150 km north from Yerevan.The way there lies through the woodlands of Yenokavan village. Grottos with marvelous bas-relieves of apostles and saints are still extant on the territory of the complex. There existed quite a large settlement here; a high laying (about 30 m) with a basin on the top and cave outlets seem to testify this.